1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to garment hangers. More particularly, this invention pertains to a hanger that offers ease of handling when encumbered with one or more heavy coats or the like while also providing aesthetic features.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The coat or garment hanger design art has witnessed numerous innovations. The basic hanger comprises a hook for engaging a conventional closet pole and a body that is generally transverse to the axis of the hook for supporting the garment in a manner similar to that in which it is suspended from the shoulders of a wearer.
Numerous innovations have been realized in this and related arts. Representative technology is disclosed in the following United States patents (identified by serial number, inventor and title):
U.S. Pat. No. 2,489,866 of Damenstein for "Coat Hanger"; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,168,741 of Potter for "Garment Hanger"; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,417,397 of McCarthy for "Hanger"; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,044 of Verdile for "Garment Hangers"; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,016 of Rood for "Clothes Hanger Attachment"; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,488,860 of Gentile, et al. for "Coat Hanger"; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,398,873 of Ward for "Attachment for Coat Hangers"; and PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,974 of Raubisser, et al. for "Process for the Manufacture of Apparatus for Emitting of Insecticidal Vapors".
British patent specification 290,579 of Dumesnil for "Garment Support" and patent Ser. Nos. 841 048 and 847 060 of the Federal Republic of Germany are likewise representative of the existing state of the art.
The manner in which a heavy coat is arranged on a conventional hanger is unsuitable for comfortable transport of the garment. Unfortunately, short business trips often necessitate that a suit, for example, be carried onto an airplane by the traveler. Travelers are frequently sighted in airports carrying, for example, a suit suspended from a hanger within a covering garment bag. The only readily available means for holding the garment bag is often the protruding hook of the hanger. The prior art teaches a relatively inflexible relationship between the hook and the body of the hanger. As a result, substantial torsion force can be transmitted to the hook, and, thence, to the hand, fingers and wrist of the traveler. Such force may be sufficient to cause punctures, sprains and annoying discomfort. Further, the stresses exerted often cause the traveler to stop and release the garment bag at regular intervals, complicating an often frantic rush to the assigned boarding gate.